


I Don't Want You Like A Best Friend

by UglySandwich



Series: I Don't Want You Like A Best Friend: The Series [1]
Category: Tangled (2010), Tangled: The Series (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Friendship/Love, Short Chapters, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-10-23 15:40:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17686283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UglySandwich/pseuds/UglySandwich
Summary: Varian is finally out of jail, and is ready to experience life to the fullest with his best friend Cassandra. But are they even friends? Short slice of life chapters with an overal arc. Varian is over 18.





	1. Sparks Fly

The sunlight against Varian’s face wasn’t what he’d been waiting five years to feel, but it sure was nice. He hadn’t been outside the prison since the day he’d been locked in, and the sun was a luxury he hadn’t felt but from a window for all those years. The only luxury he’d ever had was spending time with Cass. After her adventures with Rapunzel had come to an end, she took over her father’s position as captain of the guard.

She used to count down the time for him, reminding him, _“only two more years left, just hang in there.”_ Daily small talk became discussions about alchemy, though she understood so little.

 _“So you have to use Cassandrium shavings to make Cassiterite?”_ She’d asked, body leaning against the bars as they spoke.

_“Yeah. Cassiterite is that element that makes trash smell sweet.”_

_“I might need some of that. I smell like sweaty socks.”_

He wanted to tell her she smelled wonderful, but that would be weird, right? Instead, Varian settled for _“It’s not that bad, Cassie.”_

And he’d held off on the flirting. After all, he’d come to realize he was too young, and she was just a woman- though a beautiful one at that. Deep down, that longing never went away. It clung to him like a raccoon on his back.

Small talk and alchemy turned into chess games. He’d always let her win. He figured he’d already had an advantage with his intelligence, and he really liked seeing her so happy when she won. Her prizes were cheek kisses- nothing romantic, but enough to make his heart beat faster in his chest.

On his eighteenth birthday, he’d gotten a real kiss.

 _“Close your eyes. I have a present for you,”_ Cass lilted one late night, torches illuminating her, bathing her figure in a light glow. She looked like the angel Varian perceived her to be. She pulled his hands out between the bars and held them as she kissed him, slow and steady.

That was the first and last time they’d ever shared affection like that. In the year between the kiss and his release, he’d thought about it every day. Surely, she didn’t mean it. Surely she merely wanted him to have human contact.

The crunching of hooves against gravel pulled Varian out of his reflection. He sat up on his elbows, raising one hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he looked up at the man upon his steed.

It turned out to be Cassandra, free from her armor. “Hey,” she said, hopping down and reaching out to help her friend off of the ground.

“Hey Cass. Day off?” He took the offer. Because of her strength, she pulled him up too quickly, and too close to herself. Varian blushed. “Sorry, sorry.”

Cassandra’s face flushed and she stood back. “Yeah. I took a day off to bring someone home from jail.”

“Who might that be?” He asked coyly, giving her a smile.

“You.”

Without thinking, she’d pulled him into a kiss, just like the one a year before. Delicate, sweet, and for the first time ever, they could touch without barriers between them.

“Come on, Var. Let’s go home.”


	2. Untouchable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian and Cass watch the stars with their neighbors.

“So this is your place, huh?” Varian asked, lingering by the front door. The place smelled of vanilla. It reminded him of his mother and how she used to bake sugar cookies on the weekends. It was the most pleasant thing to come back to after being locked in a dank room for so long.

Cassandra, whilst throwing some wood in the fireplace, responded with “Yeah. I live in the castle, but my entire living quarters is smaller than the princess’ bedroom. It’s weird how classist these people are, and everyone just seems to ignore it. I mean, I love my job, but-“ She paused and glanced up at her silent friend. “I’m rambling. Come on in. I figured you could stay with me until you got back on your feet.”

Varian finally stepped into the room, and proceeded to ask, “What are you lighting the furnace for?”

“Dinner,” She said, before tossing a match into the mess of twigs. “I hope you’re a pork shoulder person.”

When Varian didn’t answer, Cassandra looked back up at him. She found him looking across the room at her. When they met eyes, they looked away.

“So, do you know where I could find a job?” He asked, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’d like to find one tomorrow so I won’t have to stay with you too long. I- I mean, I’m sure we could get along just fine, but I know you want your space, and-“

“Listen. I know you have your goals, but tonight, let’s just enjoy the fact that you’re free. You can do anything you want, so what do you want to do?”

He knew he wanted her, but he couldn’t say that. She was the only friend he had. If he crossed a line, he’d lose her. But she was biting her lip, looking up at him with those sparkling hazel eyes- but that wasn’t consent to kiss her, was it? “I want to see the stars,” he finally said, “I haven’t seen those in years.”

Her face fell a little. “That sounds fun. We can take the food outside when it’s ready, and we can look at constellations.”

The pork shoulder took a few hours to cook. By the time it was ready, it was dusk, almost night. Cassandra put out the fire and scooped the meat onto a dish, and carried it to her back door. “Grab four plates from the top shelf, and four forks from the drawer. I’ll meet you outside.”

He grabbed the forks and plates, and carried them outside to her porch. “So why do we need four if there’s only two of us?”

“You’ll see.”

Almost instantly, something rustled in the bushes. It was big- and Varian was a little frightened. “I’ll protect you, Cassie!” He called, grabbing her sword off the deck and aiming it at the bush. “Don’t come any closer, I’ll-“

“Whoa! Careful with that claymore, you could hurt someone.” Lance said, appearing through the brush. He dusted himself off and sat by Cassandra. “I knew I smelled something good.” He took a plate and a fork.

The bushes were still rustling, but Varian had set the sword down. “Does anyone want to explain who this is?”

Adira, now in the yard, did the honors. “That’s Lance, my husband. We’re her neighbors, and we come here for dinner a lot,” She said, sitting down next to Lance. “So, Cass, I see you finally got a guy to like you enough to come home for dinner.”

Cassandra’s cheeks turned bright red. “That’s not what this is, Adira. He just got out of jail, and he’s my friend, and I- I-“

“Oh come on, you know I’m messing with you. I’ve got no love life. Messing with yours is the best I’ve got.” She chuckled and took a helping of pork.

Lance followed suit. “Oh come on, you’ve got me, A-dear-a.” He joked, nudging her side.

“Oh, I sure do. I sure do have you, my wonderful, caring husband.” The two leaned against each other, laughing. “Sike!”

Varian was lost, so he whispered over to Cass, “What’s going on?”

“Adira’s been through a lot, he’s just there for her,” she answered. To change the subject, she cut a slice of pork for him, and put it on the last plate. “Eat up, Var.”

He was going to ask why, but instead, he took a bite. His eyes went as wide as- well, dinnerplates- and he finished his helping in under a minute. “Cass! That was the best thing I’ve tasted since they gave us cornbread in prison!”

And then, as he got another helping, the sun finally went down, unveiling the stars and the moon for the four of them to see. Cassandra laid back in the grass and beckoned for him to do the same. He touched her hand- and to his surprise, she held his. And this, Varian realized, is what he was waiting five years for.


	3. Starlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian and Cassandra have a hard time falling asleep.

The floor was not the most comfortable place to sleep, Cassandra decided. Neither was the table. Her mattress was already hard to begin with, but it was ten times better than any other flat surface. She tossed and turned by the dying fireplace, wide awake as Varian slept soundly in her bed.

He deserved it, she told herself. He hasn’t slept in a real bed in a long time. She rolled over to look at him, only to find him wide awake and looking out her window.

“Shooting stars,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

“You didn’t leave the house much when you were a kid, huh? This happens every few months or so,” Cassandra told him. “It’s believed that when we die, we all turn into a star. And every so often, the universe lets us come see our loved ones.”

“Huh. I’ve never heard that one. Well, what if you don’t have anyone? Do you just… have a meaningless existence up there in the sky?”

Cassandra sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees. “Everyone has someone. I used to think that way too, but I have my dad. I have you too, and that means you have me.”

When he looked down at her, he smiled, something he’d been doing a lot lately. “I guess so! But it would be really nice to find someone to spend the rest of my life with, you know? A wife, someone to have a big family with so I can see them all when I come visit as a star.”

“Me too. Don’t tell anyone, but… My dream was to be a guard, and then I got that. So I figured I’d have to chase down a new dream- and that’s to start a family.”

“We both have the same dream. Isn’t that ironic?” It was the universe’s cruel humor, if you asked Varian. The woman he’d always wanted talked about her future like he would never be a part of it.

He’d be doomed to watch her grow old next to someone else, someone that could love her more than he ever could. What he felt for her wasn’t love- it couldn’t be. They were friends. They knew each other well, they shared secrets and dreams, and he’d lay down his life for her if she’d simply asked. That wasn’t love, right?

He could’ve mulled over that for hours, but Cassandra was shivering and the fire was finally out. He didn’t hesitate to scoot over to the edge of her bed, and pat the empty side of it in an invitation. “C’mon, it’s warmer in here.”

Cassandra’s face flushed bright red. Simply sleeping next to someone of the opposite sex was unheard of, especially amidst the rich upper class near Corona’s palace. “No! No way. That is very not allowed.”

“Then I’ll sleep on the floor. Who’s gonna guard Corona if you get a cold?”

“Stan and Pete. I’ll take my chances, thanks.” She scoffed, laying back down and curling up.

“Cass-“

“Fine. If you’ll shut up, we can share the stupid bed, are you happy?”

“Yep.”

She rolled her eyes, trying to mask her discomfort with sarcasm as she laid down next to him, her body stiff and hanging off the edge of the mattress.

Varian sensed that. He may have been away from most people for a few years, but he was still perceptive, and empathetic, and kind. He leaned up on his elbow and joked, “Finally. We’re in the same bed. Y’know, I’ve wanted this since I was fifteen.”

Cassandra snorted, covering her laughter with her hand. “Oh yeah? Sorry to disappoint, but you’ve gotta take me to dinner first.” She relaxed enough that when their arms touched, she didn’t even flinch.

“Oh yeah? How about tomorrow night, then? You can tell me your favorite bakery and we can go there.”

“Are you serious?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him. “Tell me you’re not serious.”

“Yeah, I’m serious. I just figured maybe we could go there? And talk like we used to? This time, your dad won’t interrupt us and tell you to get back to work. It’ll be great! What do you say?”

“Sure,” She’d said, shrugging. “Dinner with the smartest man in Corona it is. Man, are those girls from the science committee gonna be jealous of me,” Cassandra joked.

That’s when Varian blew out his candle. “Perfect. Y’know, maybe it’s time we get some sleep.”

“Yeah. Goodnight, Var.”

“Goodnight, Cassie.”


	4. Everything Has Changed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Breakfast doesn't quite go as planned.

“Morning.”

“Morning, beautiful.”

Lazy Saturdays were Cassandra’s favorite. She loved lying in bed, thinking about all the things she could do with her weekend. Usually, those plans included going back to sleep. She wasn’t a morning person at all. Thankfully, Varian was.

Cassandra reached over to wrap her arms around him. In her foggy, sleepy mind, that was fine. She wasn’t really aware of what she was doing, until she wrapped her arms around his pillow instead. “Huh. That’s not Varian,” she said to herself, looking up into the house, only to find him at her fireplace.

“You’re right, it isn’t. I’m making breakfast.

She finally sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I should. As a thank you for dinner. And a thank you for letting me stay here.” He cracked two eggs in a pan, barely paying any mind to her other than his answer. He’d never done this before, so he had to focus.

But then it occurred to Varian that after he put the eggs in the pan, he didn’t know what to do. He stood there, staring at the fireplace with a smile. “All in a day’s work.”

“Varian?”

“Yeah?”

“They’re gonna burn.”

“Isn’t that supposed to happen?”

Cassandra laughed, a real hearty laugh. She hadn’t laughed at something in a while. “Oh! Okay, let me do it.”

“Show me how?” Varian asked, watching her gather more eggs and a spatula. It never occurred to him that maybe he needed cooking utensils. “They’re not supposed to turn black, right? Oh, they’re burning!”

“I know, I know. Those are ruined, but we can always cook more. Want to crack these in the pan for me?” Cassandra asked, handing him two eggs. “You at least know how to do that. That’s a start.”

Varian did just that, and before he could ask what came next, Cassandra wrapped her arms around him from behind. She held his hands, placing the spatula in his grip.

“You’re going to scramble these eggs. We’ll mash them up, and stir them all around the pan. Got it?” She guided his hands, showing him where to start. She rested her chin on his shoulder to see, but when she did, she realized what she’d done and how close she’d gotten. “I, er, sorry.”

When she backed up, Varian turned away from breakfast a second time to face her. “There doesn’t have to be anything wrong with that, Cass. We’ve kissed before. Twice.”

“And you just expect us to be in love now? They were just kisses, Varian.” Cassandra slumped down in a dining room chair, crossing her arms defensively.

“Yeah. I did. I thought you at least liked me, otherwise you wouldn’t have done it. Do kisses just mean nothing to you, then?”

She wouldn’t even kiss Andrew, that admittedly gorgeous separatist she helped capture. She liked him a little too, and he wasn’t even worthy of her affection. So what did this mean for Varian? What did it mean for her? “It meant something,” she admitted.

“What did it mean?”

“Thank you. Thank you for being my only real friend outside the palace walls.”

Varian scoffed, before looking over his shoulder at the now blackened eggs they tried to cook together. There goes the universe again with its cruel irony! They were never going to do anything right by themselves. “I’d say my debt for it’s repaid, but I don’t think these count either.”

He took the charred remains and dumped them in the fire, before storming out of her house.

That wouldn’t do. As soon as he was out the door, Cassandra was on her feet, chasing after him into the yard. There she stood, in her pajamas, in the royal courtyard. The royal family was having breakfast just feet away, staring at her in all her bedhead glory, with a man she’d spent the night with standing next to her.

“I-it’s not what you think,” she mentioned to them, trying to grab Varian by the hand to drag him back inside. “Varian, get inside.”

“Oh, so now you actually want me in your house?” He asked, not budging from his spot.

“Fine. We’ll work this out here in the yard. I’ll just get beheaded after this. That’s fine.” She rolled her eyes, continuing, “I like you a lot, okay? That was actually my first kiss. I’ve never been close to someone like I’ve been close to you, and I didn’t hate it. So please, let’s go back inside. We’ll figure out what we want out of this.”

“You like me?” He asked, a little taken aback. “I like you.”

Eugene shouted from the pavilion, “Yeah, we knew for years.”

Varian rolled his eyes. “I’ve liked you since I was a kid. And this whole thing has been a dream to me, Cass. I can’t even begin to thank you for what you’ve done for me.”

“I can think of something,” Cass suggested, leaning in a little closer.

“Way ahead of you.” He kissed her gently, pulling her in by the waist. It felt like they had done this a million times in another life, but that didn’t take away from the shock and sheer joy it gave him when they kissed.

And out on the pavilion, Queen Ariana clapped. “He’s a keeper, Cass!”


	5. Out Of The Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Are we out of the woods yet? Are we in the clear yet? Good.  
> Woo! A long chapter!  
> Varian and Cassandra go camping. There is a hint of lime at the end, but you can interpret it as not happening if that makes you feel better.

“Are you sure this is okay?” Varian asked, his hands on Cassandra’s hips. They’d lingered there so awkwardly, like he’d been afraid of what would happen if he touched her.

“God, Varian. Yes, it’s okay.” Cassandra rolled her eyes, pulling him in closer by the shoulders. “We’re just dancing.”

The musicians who frequently played the Snuggly Duckling usually played anything to get the people on their feet. Tonight, there was a song sung by a lithe, blonde woman with cherry red lips. Her lyrics were cryptic and vague, nothing like the epics Hookhand usually sang before he went on his tour.

 _“Looking at it now, it all seems so simple. We were lying on your couch, I remember_ …”

Varian looked around the room, at anything but Cassandra. “What a weird song.” He wasn’t used to dancing. He let her take the lead, which was unheard of. People were looking at him strangely, more so than usual.

_“You made a painting of us, then discovered the rest of the world was black and white, but we were in screaming color. And I remember thinking…”_

Cassandra only rested her head on his shoulder. Didn’t she care what anyone thought of them? They were breaking rules nobody had made. There’d be no imprisonment, but to Varian, being more of a social outcast than he was was even worse.

“Do you want to get out of here?” He asked. “This isn’t really my speed.”

That startled Cassandra a little. Did she really forget to ask him what he wanted? “Yeah, let’s do something else. What did you have in mind?”

 _“Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods?_ _Are we in the clear yet? Are we in the clear yet? Are we in the clear yet? In the clear yet? Good.”_

“Geez, this song’s annoying,” Varian scowled, pulling Cassandra towards the exit by the hand. He looked back at her and saw her smile. Underneath the dim torchlight, she glowed like nothing he’d ever seen before.

That’s when he noticed a flash of purple peeking out from underneath her shirt. The object fell from the confines of her shirt collar, and hung around her neck. It was that necklace he’d made her half a decade ago. Varian decided not to mention it, but he smiled back at her.

“Let’s go camping. Just for fun. We don’t even need a tent, Cass! We can sleep under a tree. That’d be fun, right?” They were finally outside the pub, away from judgmental people and their wandering eyes.

That song was still playing, though. Cassandra spun him into her arms one more time, mentioning, “Just one more dance, and we’ll go camping. Does that sound good?” She was leading again, but this time, Varian let it happen.

“Alright, one more dance.” He wasn’t fond of dancing, but he was fond of her. So he let her twirl them about the yard, dancing by firefly light.

_“Your necklace hanging from my neck, the night we couldn't quite forget, when we decided...”_

He got up the courage to twirl her, and as she came back into his arms, he dipped her. He’d seen it at his first ball back in Old Corona. He’d wanted to ask Cassandra to go with him, but he’d considered their age difference and decided not to. Now he had another chance, and he wasn’t going to let it go to waste. As he lowered her towards the ground, he hadn’t considered how heavy she was, or the very little strength he had in his arms. They fell, tumbling down into a mess of cattails, crickets, and crabgrass.

Cassandra hadn’t noticed they’d fallen. Or maybe she did, but she didn’t care. She reached up to push blue streaks of hair out of Varian’s face, and when she did, she looked into his eyes for the first time. And she froze. There was something new there. Sure, she liked him, but this feeling was more than that. But it wasn’t love, right? How could it be if it had only been a few weeks?

“Varian,” Cass started, “Are we out of the woods yet? I mean, what even is this? What are we doing?”

Varian blinked. “Oh. We haven’t made it official yet, have we?”

Cassandra nodded. “I know I don’t usually like labels, but maybe… I want one? I want to call you something.”

“Call me yours.”

“Y’know? You’re the best thing that’s ever been mine.” She stood back up and reached out to him with both hands. “Come on, you said you wanted to go camping, right? I’ve never done that. Teach me how?”

Varian took her hands, pulling himself up. As soon as he was on his feet, he swept her off of hers. “I dunno!” He shouted excitedly. “I’ve never gone camping before either!” Oh, but he still wasn’t strong enough to hold her, and they came crashing down again, this time laughing on the way down.

_“When we decided to move the furniture so we could dance, baby, like we stood a chance. Two paper airplanes flying, flying, flying- and I remember thinking…”_

“Then let’s just run into the woods for the weekend! It’ll be fun,” Cassandra suggested. “We’ll stop at home, pick up some food, and we can use my bedsheet as a tent.”

Varian was the one to help her up this time. When he pulled her to her feet, her face ended up just inches from his. Naturally, the only thing to do was kiss her, right? But unlike the first time he wanted to kiss her, he followed through.

 _“Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods?_ _Are we in the clear yet? Are we in the clear yet? Are we in the clear yet? In the clear yet? Good.”_

There was something new in the way they kissed, too, and Varian wasn’t sure what he was doing. “I don’t know how,” he mumbled between kisses, awkwardly holding her by the waist again.

“Neither do I,” she said. “We can figure it out, or we can do something else entirely.”

Something else entirely seemed like a better idea to him. “Well, how about this?” He rubbed his nose against hers in an Eskimo kiss, and when she smiled, he smiled too. “That’ll be our new thing. We can figure out the rest later, okay?”

She rubbed her nose against his in response. “Perfect.”

“Now, let’s go home and get those supplies.”

* * *

 

The trip from Old Corona to the palace and back to Old Corona took the whole night, and when they finally went back out in the woods behind the Snuggly Duckling, the sun was coming up. Inside the pub, the band was packing up and the bartenders were cleaning. They watched the two of them walk into the brush.

The singer raised an eyebrow. “That’s the opposite of what I meant.”

Shorty, w _ho of course_ had been there the whole night, patted her on the leg. He couldn’t reach anything else. “I thought your song was about me and my goat, Chicken.”

In some strange way, she understood what he meant. “Yeah, I guess you actually have to be in the woods to come out of them.”

But Varian and Cassandra marched on through the trees. No matter how many times their feet got caught in vines, or their legs brushed against poison oak, they kept walking. He lifted low branches out of the way for her, she cut down vines for him.

When the massive firs and pines blocked out the sun, and the only thing they could see was each other, Varian held Cassandra’s hand. “We’ll make it through this, just like everything else in our lives.”

She smiled back at him and squeezed his hand. “I don’t think I could’ve picked a better partner.”

_“Remember when we couldn't take the heat? I walked out, I said, I'm setting you free- but the monsters turned out to be just trees. When the sun came up you were looking at me."_

Varian was about to remind her that she was the better half of this relationship, but was interrupted by a low growl somewhere behind him. “I think we ought to run.”

“No! Get behind me, I can take it,” Cassandra shouted, holding her sword out. She couldn’t see much, but what she did see was a pair of piercing blue eyes from the bushes.

The growl turned into a whine as the eyes looked towards the sword, and out of the brush crawled a tiny wolf pup.

“Aww, look! It’s just a baby,” Varian said, picking up the tiny thing. “Can we keep him, Cass?”

“What would we even name something like that?” She said, laughing as she lowered her sword.

“He looks like a ‘Moon.’ We should name him Moon.” He cradled the wolf in his arms like a baby, rubbing his face with a thumb. The dog barked, seemingly pleased with this new arrangement.

“You know? I can’t say no to that. Now C’mon, I see some light ahead. I think we might be able to stop somewhere up there.” Cassandra took Varian’s free hand and tugged him along, towards the sunlight.

When they did finally reach the edge, the woods opened up into a meadow with a creek. Rosebushes dotted the landscape, and dandelion seeds blew in the breeze. Moon took to the change in scenery rather quickly, jumping from Varian’s arms to run through the field.

“This looks like a good place to stop,” said Varian, setting his bag down. “I’ll gather some sticks. I brought vodka- did you know that stuff is flammable? I’m going to use it to start a fire.”

The fact that they were all alone was nothing new to Cass, but now she realized they could do _anything_ because of it. “Wait a minute. Let’s start a fire the old-fashioned way, I have a better use for that vodka.”

“Are we going to save it to make weapons? I don’t think Molotov Cocktails are the best weapons to fend off bears- _ohh.”_ A wicked smile spread across his face as he took the flask out of his backpack. “Bottoms up,” he said, tipping his head back, and immediately lurching forward to spit it all out.

Cassandra laughed. “So maybe we won’t do that.” She took the flask from his hand and slipped it in her duffel bag, swapping it out for the sheet she’d mentioned the night before. “Let’s find somewhere to set this up.”

By the time they’d set a fire and hung their sheet off of low hanging oak tree branches, it was mid-afternoon, and sweltering.

Varian was sweating, already wiping his face with his shirt. Cassandra didn’t realize she was watching until she saw his abs- they weren’t that much to look at, but she still found herself blushing. That intense feeling, almost like love, had returned. There was an inexplicable need for him, a need to hold him, to kiss him. She brushed it off as he lead her towards the stream.

 “Let’s go for a swim and cool off. Hey, maybe we can catch dinner in the river too!”

She followed him down into the water. It was warm, and clear, and the current was gentle enough so she wouldn’t get swept away. That’s when he took off his shirt and tossed it to the riverbank. Cassandra forgot what she was doing.

But he splashed her, and reality set in. “Hey!” she called, splashing him back playfully.

“Gotcha!” He yelled back, splashing her right in the face.

She splashed him in the face right back. At least, she tried to. In an attempt to leap out of the way, he’d fallen backwards, head first into the water.

“Varian! Oh my gosh, are you okay?” Cassandra ran to his aid, only to be pulled down to his level. Thankfully, the water was shallow enough, and they immediately sat up to avoid drowning.

Varian laughed, showing off his mud-covered hair and shoulders. “Peachy! There were no rocks down there, just mud.”

But now they had a problem- they were both muddy and soaked. Cassandra stood up, and pulled her boyfriend to his feet and out onto the dry riverbank.

“I didn’t bring an extra pair of clothes,” she said, wringing out her skirt. When she looked back up, she saw Varian holding out his dry tunic to her.

“That should work. I’ll deal with muddy pants for a night, but you should change.” He made his leave, going behind a wall of shrubs so she could have some privacy.

When he returned, things began to unravel. She was dripping wet, wearing nothing but his shirt and the Cassandrium necklace he’d seen the night before. His mouth went dry, and he struggled to say, “You kept the necklace.”

“I didn’t want to get rid of it. It always reminded me of a person who put his friends first. Someone selfless enough to do my job for me so I could chase my dream.” She smiled and approached him, cupping his face in the palm of her hand.

He couldn’t contain whatever the feeling was between them anymore. It spiraled out of control and he kissed her, deeper than they’d ever kissed before. A part of him had no idea what was going on, but there was an instinct driving it. The other part of him kissed her deliberately, trying so hard to hear her gasp his name.

“Varian!”

There it was. He blushed a bright red and pulled back. They should have stopped there, but instead, he found himself laying her down on the grass.

“Cass? I’m in love with you.”

“I’m in love with you too.”

They gave each other an Eskimo kiss, before crashing together in another fierce kiss.

 _“Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods?_ _Are we in the clear yet? Are we in the clear yet? Are we in the clear yet? In the clear yet? Good.”_


End file.
